Leatherwood sends letter to IOC condemning opening ceremony performance

NASHVILLE (BP) — Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) President Brent Leatherwood has called on Olympic organizers to review plans for the games’ closing ceremonies after a depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper featuring “drag performers” and LGBTQ+ dancers sent shockwaves.

“Christians around the world have raised an uproar about the inappropriate spectacle. The director of the event, Thomas Jolly, seemed to suggest fault for any offense lies with those who were aghast at what we all were subjected to on the screen,” Leatherwood said in a letter to Thomas Bach, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president.

“He [Jolly] went on to say he merely wanted to send a ‘message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.’ If this is accurate, Mr. Jolly must have somehow calculated that insulting the over two billion Christians worldwide was going to accomplish that objective. That is ludicrous,” Leatherwood wrote.

In addition to reviewing the closing ceremonies, Leatherwood requested:

• “For future ceremonies, including the 2026 Olympics in Milan and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, please put in place new protocols to ensure such degrading scenes as the ones that were included in these ceremonies are not created. 
• “Please engage religious scholars and experts from all traditions for future Olympic Games.”

“President Bach, please lead the IOC to uphold the values of respect and morality that it claims to support,” Leatherwood wrote.

Read the full letter here.

ERLC releases ministry FAQ

NASHVILLE (BP) — The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) released answers to frequently asked questions July 29. The page on their website deals with issues such as funding, legislative priorities, pro-life priorities and gun violence.

“We know there are questions circulating right now about who we are, what we do, and how we faithfully execute the ministry assignment given to us by the churches of the [Southern Baptist Convention] SBC,” said Miles Mullin, ERLC vice president and chief of staff, in a statement to Baptist Press. “As part of our ongoing effort to increase transparency, we’ve created this FAQ to address some of our most frequent inquiries.”

The ERLC faced numerous questions, some through messenger motions, and a motion to defund the entity from the floor of the 2024 SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis. Several of the questions are addressed directly in the FAQ.

Specifically, the FAQ addresses questions about potential funding received from political activist George Soros.

The FAQ says, “… the ERLC has never taken any funding from George Soros or Soros-related entities.”

During the last two SBC annual meetings, ERLC President Brent Leatherwood has answered questions about why the ERLC will not support charging women who seek abortions with murder.

The FAQ says, “… the step to criminalize women who have obtained an abortion is not one that messengers to the convention have supported.”

“We stand behind the work accomplished by this commission over its 100-year-old history and know there is still good work to be done through the ministry of the ERLC,” Mullin said.

“Every day, we count it a privilege to serve Southern Baptists and remain convinced that together, we can continue to bring the hope of Jesus Christ into a chaotic and increasingly pagan public square. Now more than ever, that voice is needed.”